This Thursday Talk featured Reina Neufeldt exploring questions of ethics in peacebuilding evaluation. The format combined a presentation on how to think about ethics and peacebuilding evaluation with stories about challenging ethical moments during evaluations in order to draw out some of the moral challenges that arise and possible responses. Neufeldt explored what is considered good and right peacebuilding at the outset of an evaluation, as well as who decides what’s good and right, and elements related to the process of conducting an evaluation. The presentation drew on a new brief Neufeldt produced for the Peacebuilding Evaluation Consortium Wicked Problems series, titled “Peacebuilding Evaluation Ethics: Determining What is Good and Right. (link is external)”

About the Speakers:

Dr. Reina Neufeldt is a seasoned scholar-practitioner in reflective peacebuilding. For more than seventeen years, she has worked with non-governmental organizations to design, monitor, evaluate and learn from peacebuilding and conflict transformation programming in settings of deep-rooted conflict. Before becoming an assistant professor, she worked for a number of non-governmental organizations on peacebuilding. Between 2000 and 2007, Dr. Neufeldt worked as a peacebuilding Technical Advisor at Catholic Relief Services, based in Baltimore and Southeast Asia. She co-authored two foundational peacebuilding training resources: “Peacebuilding: A Caritas Training Manual” (2001) and “Reflective Peacebuilding: A Planning, Monitoring and Learning Toolkit” (2007). More recently, Dr. Neufeldt published the book Ethics for Peacebuilders: A Practical Guide (2016; Rowman & Littlefield). She continues to consult with NGOs on peacebuilding monitoring and learning as well as conduct independent research on local, civil society peacebuilding. Dr. Neufeldt has served on the Peacebuilding Evaluation Consortium’s Advisory Board since 2013. She is trained in quantitative and qualitative research methods, and holds an MA in Social Psychology (York University) and a PhD in International Relations (American University).